The tech giant has built a convenience store in downtown Seattle that deploys a gaggle of technologies similar to those used in self-driving cars to allow shoppers to come in, grab items and walk out without going through a register.

It’s clearly a sign that Amazon sees a big opportunity in revolutionizing the staid traditions of Main Street commerce. In the much longer term, if the experiment works out and is adopted widely, it could radically transform the nature of work in the retail industry, much like driverless car and truck technology threatens to upend transportation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that cashiers are the second-largest occupation, with 3.5 mill. employed in the U.S. Analysts say the move shows how aggressively Amazon is pursuing the grocery business, which represents about 17% of total U.S. retail, or nearly $800 bn. It’s an area dominated by Wal-Mart, an Amazon rival that is revving up its e-commerce game. For Amazon, it represents a huge source of potential revenue growth, plus another way to ensconce itself in people’s shopping habits. Amazon could get even more bang for its revolutionary technology, perhaps, by selling it to other brick-and-mortar retailers.

The Amazon Go store at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Blanchard Street is expected to be open to the public in early 2017.